Actress Song Hye-kyo gets billboard tribute in NY

Song Hye-kyo’s face lighting up a giant billboard (above) in Times Square after fans of the South Korean actress paid for the use of the space to celebrate her 38th birthday on Friday. PHOTO: HYEBARAGI_KR/INSTAGRAM

NEW YORK • Many folk in New York now know who Song Hye-kyo is. Her face is lighting up a giant billboard in Times Square after fans of the South Korean actress paid for the use of the space to celebrate her 38th birthday on Friday.

It is not known how much it cost, but it must be substantial, given that they are using the space from last Sunday to Friday.

A 15-second an hour spot on both the Nasdaq and Thomson Reuters billboards costs around US$30,000 (S$41,000) for one week.

A note at the bottom of the Song advertisement says the tribute is from both her Korean and international fans.

The Times Square tribute marks the first time that a South Korean actress has received such an honour, with the method previously used to celebrate the fifth anniversary of K-pop powerhouse BTS.

Song, meanwhile, continues to use her money to honour South Koreans who fought for liberation from Japanese colonial occupation.

She and a professor from Sungshin Women's University have teamed up for the past eight years to donate books about the independence movement.

On Sunday, she paid for another 10,000 books to be distributed.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 20, 2019, with the headline Actress Song Hye-kyo gets billboard tribute in NY. Subscribe